PRIVACY POLICY

05.08.12

Twitter Protective of ‘Occupy’ User Info

Martin Keene, PA / AP Photo

Twitter has asked that a state court reject a subpoena that the social-media company hand over user data for Michael Harris, an Occupy Wall Street protester who was arrested for disorderly conduct. Prosecutors had asked Twitter for Harris’s email address and all of his tweets from a three-month period, but Twitter cited the Fourth Amendment and argued that police would need a search warrant to access his information. After prosecutors argued that the user didn’t have the legal standing to protect his tweets, Twitter countered that its terms of service stipulate that users have control of their own communications. The American Civil Liberties Union praised Twitter in a blog post for protecting its users' civil rights.